I wrote my first NBA story in 1989 while I was still in college. I’ve been blessed to cover the NBA on a full-time, up-close basis since February 1994. Tracking #thisleague has been my professional life … and now I’m incredibly excited to step into this new frontier and bring all of my reporting to you right here.
Substack will be the home for my work: Fully independent and in-depth NBA coverage — unfiltered and as personal as ever. This was an irresistible opportunity to write about the league in a fresh and invigorating way, fueled by this deliciously blank canvas, total independence and the closest possible connection to you.
You love the NBA and you want it all. News, league chatter, analysis, opinion, predictions, historical perspective, storytelling — all from a reporter you know and trust. That’s what you will get from this newsletter, post after post, as we build this community together.
I will be talking year-round to people throughout the NBA, like I always have, and bringing that information directly to your inbox. I will take you with me on my trips and share what I’m seeing and hearing. I will report for you.
Why subscribe?
There are no ads or sponsor content on Substack, so your subscriber support makes a direct impact on my coverage, enabling me to pursue the stories you want to read and tell them properly and thoroughly. Even better: Your membership leads to direct contact with me and everyone else in the community, for a much more informative and meaningful (and frankly more pleasant) dialogue than social media typically affords.
What to expect
Every Tuesday, I will publish an exhaustive NBA newsletter just like I have on Tuesdays for The New York Times since January 2018. Those Tuesday extravaganzas will remain free to all subscribers like they’ve always been.
For paying subscribers, there will be so much more, delivered promptly and safely stored in your inbox for whenever you’re ready to dive in. A sampling:
All the additional posts, filled with in-depth reporting, that flow out of my notebook.
In total: At least 100 posts annually.
Opportunities to connect directly with me through reader comments and Q&A sessions.
Exclusive access to get-togethers we will arrange to truly build a connected community immersed in a league that takes zero days off.
About Marc Stein
The chance in 1989 to cover the NBA’s annual summer league, at the time in Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, was my entrée to a career as an NBA reporter that has spanned nearly 30 seasons. I got that assignment as a part-time employee of The Orange County Register while studying at Cal State Fullerton and have subsequently worked for The Washington Post, The San Bernardino Sun, The Los Angeles Daily News, The Dallas Morning News, ESPN and, from October 2017 until June 2021, The New York Times. I traveled as a beat writer covering the Clippers and then the Lakers in L.A., covered the Mavericks and the league at large in Dallas and spent 15 years at ESPN as a league insider both on television and on the radio in addition to my usual coverage as a news-breaker and columnist. In September 2019, on my proudest day as a journalist, I received the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Award … 30 years after my first-ever NBA story on the then-Yugoslavian army’s reported unwillingness to let a Laker rookie named Vlade Divac come to the NBA. Divac was inducted into the Hall the next day. It’s been a storybook ride that I can’t wait to continue here with you.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
